Integrating Social Equity into the Core Human Resource Management Course

Issues of equity and justice are fundamental concerns of public administrators. Public administrators face the constant challenge of ensuring equity in governance (Akram 2004), and in certain respects the field of public administration has moved slowly in applying principles of justice. In fact, equity or fairness in public services was the last established “pillar” of the field-and it still remains secondary in emphasis behind economy, effectiveness, and efficiency.1 Although the National Academy of Public Administration is not the decisive voice of the discipline-nor does such a decisive voice exist-this respected organization’s adoption of social equity elevates its importance to our profession.